Should Disney acquire Netflix, Paramount and Sony?

Should Disney acquire Netflix, Paramount and Sony?

Forbes contributor Mark Hughes has some interesting ideas about how Disney may save ESPN and it should make a series of acquisitions.

By brodie999 - Sep 14, 2017 02:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Disney
Source: Brodie Marschall



With the year nearing its end, Disney has left its rivals in the dust at the box office by reaching the elusive $3 billon to date. One key to this success has been acquiring other companies with valuable IPS and maximising the growth and revenue potentials.

Forbes contributor Mark Hughes suggested that Disney should buy Netflix, Paramount and Sony in order to further expand their holdings, build a bigger catalogue of new properties, have their own platform for sharing content with the largest possible audience as directly as possible  and finding a way to save ESPN from a slide that continues to be the one small drag on the company's stock and performance overall.. He immediately clarifed that it's a guess. But if any company is positioned to navigate the laws and buy even more stables of characters, it's Disney. 
 
Moving to a sustainable, stable streaming platform that allows live broadcast to a huge global audience is a good option. However, creating their own streaming service as they are doing right now is far less appealing than  getting hold of an existing, massive streaming that serves many other needs while instantly putting ESPN in a completly new and ideal postiion. 

Netflix has 104 million subscribers, and has enjoyed pretty constant groth. It has multiple deals with a wide variety of studios and production companies to stream content and create new exclusive content. And it's frankly them ost recognizable name brand in content-streaming today.

The smart move for Disney, then, is to buy Netflix and move ESPN over to that platform. There are several options for the specifics -- make it an add-on service like the DVD option, or go for sheer quantity of subscribers by simply adding ESPN to the service at no extra charge (at first, anyway) to subscribers, and in either case providing advertising space during the streaming broadcasts. Keeping the games avaliable for one month, for anyone wanting to save up a block of games to binge on (perhaps creating a new way of viewing sports programming) or re-watch them, would provided added advertising potential (albeit at a lower rate than during the live broadcast and subsequent first 24 hours of "rerun" streaming). And the fact this would make ESPN content more readily avaliable on mobile devices via the Netflix app -- where ad revenue could again be generated to greater affect at higher rates, due to the large subscriber base -- shouldn't be forgotten.

Purchasing Sony and Paramount is another big move that Disney could and should consider, along with a big Netflix merger. The back catalogue of films and TV shows would be a boon in the aftermath of a Netflix purchase that would surely see some competitors ending their deals to stream content on Netflix, as well as providing a lot of new IPs to develop. Paramount has Mission Impossible, G.I Joe, Transformers, Terminator, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Star Trek for example, while a purchase of Sony would brng Spider-Man fully under Marvel's control and add Men in Black, Jump Street, Underworld, Resident Evil and (If Sony manages to retain it) James Bond to Disney's list of franchises to exploit on film, television, and streaming. 

I'd go for Paramount first, before Sony Pictures, just because it's got more to offer. And I'd do that ahead of a Netflix deal, since having Netflix in-hand would make the "threat level" to other studios far more obvious. Which in turn means the Netflix and Sony deals would need to be either simultaneous or in quick succession, so nobody else steps in to gobble up Sony first instead.


Disney has had some remarkable success at the box office lately, and the coming years are shaping up to continue that trend, but ultimately they need their own streaming service for their large library content, and they need to solve their ESPN problem before it grows worse. Netflix provides the answers to those problems, and opens new doors for Disney as well. All of their content in one place, a global streaming sports option, a subscriber base of 100 million, and the chance to introduce advertising options into that already valuable equation. If Disney isn't going to trade ESPN, then Netflix is the right call, and the sooner they make it the better.


Have a listen to his article for yourselves and let us know what you make of them.

 

LILO AND STITCH Has Already Outgrossed THUNDERBOLTS* At The Worldwide Box Office
Related:

LILO AND STITCH Has Already Outgrossed THUNDERBOLTS* At The Worldwide Box Office

LILO & STITCH Director Addresses Controversy Surrounding The Live-Action Movie's New Ending - SPOILERS
Recommended For You:

LILO & STITCH Director Addresses Controversy Surrounding The Live-Action Movie's New Ending - SPOILERS

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

1 2
darthgeekboy
darthgeekboy - 9/14/2017, 3:23 PM
Apple should be disney and all those others. they can afford it.
brodie999
brodie999 - 9/14/2017, 3:33 PM
@darthgeekboy - Actually, Disney is too big of a company to be bought by any but a handful of companies now. But Apple can still buy another company that's small. Longtime Disney analyst Richard Greenfield argued that the company should stop repurchasing shares and instead use the money to do the Netflix, Paramount and Sony acquisitions over the next 12-24 months. With their new companies, they'll be so dwarfed that they can't be bought by any company.http://www.investopedia.com/news/disney-ceo-talks-ma-and-snap-shares-surge/
brodie999
brodie999 - 10/28/2017, 3:44 PM
@darthgeekboy - Hey, Darth. I talked to Mark Hughes and he said a Netflix buy by Disney makes more sensed money than starting their own streaming service and he doesn't think we'll see 50-100 million subscribers leap onto it instantly. That's why he always said part of that merger would probably, inevitably include buying Paramount and Sony as well, in a big spending spree by Disney, to have access to those 2 additional large libraries of movies and TV content to add to Netflix along with the Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm content that could be placed. And they'd have to renegotiate a bunch of contracts with other studios to try to retain a lot of the current Netflix content as well. But Disney is great at that stuff, the negotiations, building content and promoting it, plus ESPN would be a massive draw as well and create an instant global streaming service of sports content unlike anything that currently really exists, smashing models and opening the door to Netflix expansion into other countries in even bigger ways. And Disney are also cutting costs and streaming services and business, so I think they'd quickly make changes to Netflix's debt model and turn the service into something slightly different from what it is now, but still a mammoth streaming content provider that breaks boundaries and serves Disney's longterm goals very nicely. I think this'd all be great for customers because it'd help speed up the move from traditional cable to modern streaming service, disrupt sports content providers and force a rethinking of how to consume and provide the most popular mainstream content and would help provide a far larger and more agile platform for Disney's library of content and brands around the world. Disney tends to do great things with content and brands they get their hands on, so I can only imagine that this'd all be great for fans of that content, provide consumers with new options and break down more barriers in tech and content.
hufflepuff69
hufflepuff69 - 9/14/2017, 4:22 PM
Disney should buy me a new car
billnye69
billnye69 - 9/14/2017, 4:36 PM
Sure, why have competition when one company could control everything. Nothing bad ever came from one company having no competition right?
BloodyBed
BloodyBed - 9/14/2017, 4:54 PM
Nope, nope, nope, the world is at moximum disney capacity as it is, I really don't want all of the netflix content to turn into disney mush.
bigdannymac
bigdannymac - 9/14/2017, 7:17 PM
Disney purchasing Sony is more of a probability then a guess. At least the movie division for certain

I can also see them making a very strong attempt at something with Netflix. No matter which way you look at it, Disney pulling all it's movies etc from Netflix (Marvel and Star Wars included) is a big blow to Netflix.

Will it kill Netflix? No, not at all. It will it hurts stock though especially when Disney launches it's own streaming service.

I could see many companies such as WB first and foremost who would have a major problem with Disney buying Netflix or attempting to ..

Like Stan Lee said though .. it's a matter of a few years until Disney has every single Marvel character back. That's an absolute certainty and it will cost a whole lotta money
brodie999
brodie999 - 9/14/2017, 8:35 PM
@bigdannymac - Yep, Disney purchasing Paramount wouldn't cost much because it's a much cheaper company to get at $10 billion. But Sony's value is in trouble right now. And if things don't improve this year, it could win up seeing its potential sale price drop to $25 billion or less. and if it dips below that level, then the moment a major slide starts to pause is a time for another company to swoop in and try to potentially buy it for a bargain price. And in this purely $24-or-less range means it's possible to acquire Sony and Paramount - in theory ,of course - for around $34 billion. The IP they own and back catalogues should make that a tremendously tempting opportunity. Netflix would probably cost Disney $70 billion. according to a guy named Todd Juenger, so that's a harder "get", but still worthwhile, and the total package deal for Sony-Paramount-Netflix is just a bit north of $100 million - steep, but the payoff is enormous for Disney since they'd instantly have the dominant streaming service with a massive library of content past and president to fill up that service, as well as the glaringly obvious best way to save ESPN.
brodie999
brodie999 - 9/30/2017, 5:50 PM
@bigdannymac - Hey, danny. I talked to Mark Hughes. And he still thinks a Disney-Netflix merger makes more sense and money than making their own streaming service and he doesn't think we'll see 50-100 million subscribers leap onto it instantly. That's why he always said part of that merger would probably, inevitably include buying Paramount and Sony as well, in a big spending spree by Disney, to have access to those 2 additional large libraries of movies and TV content to add to Netflix along with the Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm that could be placed on the platform. And Disney would have to renegotiate a bunch of contracts with other studios to try to retain a lot of the current Netflix content as well. But Disney is great at that stuff, the negotiations, building content and promoting it, plus ESPN would be a massive draw as well and create a instant global streaming service of sports content unlike anything that currently really exists, smashing models and opening the door to Netflix expansion into other countries in even bigger ways. And Disney are also great at cutting costs and streaming services and business, so I think they'd quickly make changes to Netflix's debt model and turn the service into something slightly different from what it is now, but still a mammoth streaming content provider that breaks boundaries and serves Disney's longterm goals very nicely. I think this'd all be great for customers, because it'd help speed up the move from traditional cable to modern streaming service, disrupt sports content providers and force a rethinking of how to consume and provide the most popular mainstream content, and would help provide a far larger and more agile platform for Disney's library of content and brands around the world. Disney tends to do great things with content and brands they get their hands on, so I can only imagine this would all be great for fans of that content and provide consumers with new options and break down more barriers in tech and content.
brodie999
brodie999 - 1/3/2018, 7:49 PM
@bigdannymac - Hey, danny. Hughes recently told me in theory, a purchase of Fox would make Paramount and Sony purchases even more appetising for Disney because at that point the additional franchises and back library of content would mean that Disney's own new streaming service could instantly have such a massive library of content while denying that library of content to Netflix (imagine the implications of losing all Fox, Paramount, Sony, Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm movies and TV shows) could allow Disney's service -a combination of the streaming service and FX - to instantly rival Netflix. Which means the advantages of Disney buying Netflix decline over the long haul. Granted, if Disney bought Fox, Paramount and Sony, they'd be spending a massive amount of money, so Netflix would probably be too much of an added expensive purchase anyway. If Netflix reaches its maximum potential for subsciber and growth slows considerably while their debts come due, and if Disney's competing streaming service is a success (which seems obviously likely), then the price for Netflix could decline while the value of Disney (and their cash in hand) will inevitably rise. In that situation, several years into the future (maybe a decade?) a buyout of Netflix could then become the endgame for Disney where whatever major deals and original content etc. Netflix has built up for their own library - plus their existing subscriber base who aren't already Disney subscribers would be appealing and could be merged into the Disney service to create one enormous streaming service with the largest content library and original content creation on the planet. Some "red skinned guy" from the Clone Wars once said: "Greed never fails to motivate" And Disney seems to be on its way to expand its empire by buying as many significant studios and companies (and their franchises with them) as possible.https://www.change.org/p/the-walt-disney-company-the-walt-disney-company-buy-sony-paramount-netflix-nick-to-save-viacom-other-companies
BlackIceJoe
BlackIceJoe - 9/14/2017, 8:44 PM
I hope Disney doesn't take up this idea and if they do Congress needs to stop it from happening. The reason why is Disney would have a monopoly and that isn't good for anyone, other than the Disney shareholders.
1 2
View Recorder